BAKU (June 13) – More than five thousand fans packed the Heydar Aliyev arena in Baku Saturday to watch wrestling on the opening day of competition at the European Games, and for fans of the Russian national team there was plenty to cheer.
Russia and home side Azerbaijan each put multiple wrestlers into the night’s action-packed finale, but it was the Russians who went undefeated in their finals to take home three top prizes.
The Russian’s impressive opening night began with No.19 Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) who plodded his way to the 3-0 victory over Solslan DAUROV (BLR). Maryanyan, who was a 2010 Junior World Champion but is the number two wrestler on the Russian roster behind world No.1 Ibragim LABAZANOV.
The Azerbaijanis scored their first medal of the Games when No.1 Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) bested No.7 Balint KORPASI (HUN) 4-2 in the night’s 71kg finals.
Chunayev, whose colorful personality and aggressive style of wrestling has made him a fan favorite worldwide, initiated a four-point lift midway through the first period that ignited the hometown crowd. The action even garnered heavy applause from IOC president Thomas Bach who was in attendance for much of the night’s finals.
Chunayev’s star appeal lasted through the award presentation as United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic joined Azerbaijan Republic president Ilham Aliyev to award Chunayev his gold medal. After receiving top prize, the smiling 71kg wrestler reached out and embraced the Azerbaijan president -- a gesture that sent hometown fans into a deafening approval.
The night’s most competitive finals belonged to the world’s top two ranked 80kg Greco-Roman wrestlers, No.1 Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) and No.2 Evgeni SALEEV (RUS).
Though there was little scoring early in the match, but Huseynov was millimeters from completing a lift from forced par-terre though he ultimately failed to heave Saleev past his hips. The Russian countered in the scoring two pints from a high gut wrench which had originally lost momentum, but was scored after Huseynov attempted to crawl back over top for a reversal point.
Saleev secured the gold medal, 2-0.
The 98kg final pitted No.14 Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) versus Dimitriy TIMCHENKO (UKR) in a battle that could have been closed, but was opened up early by Magomedev. The Russian light heavyweight earned a four-point lift and two-point exposure to make easy work of his Ukrainian opponent and take the gold, 6-0.
The second day of wrestling at the European Games begins tomorrow at 10:00am local time with the final four categories of Greco-Roman being competed.
Medal Results
59kg – Greco-Roman
GOLD: No.19 Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) df. Solslan DAUROV (BLR), 3-0
BRONZE: No.13 Elman MUKHTAROV (AZE) df. Roman AMOYAN (ARM) by TF, 9-1
BRONZE: Tarik BELMADANI (FRA) df. No.9 Victor CIOBANU (MDA), 7-1
1/2 Finals: No.19 Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) df. No.13 Elman MUKHTAROV (AZE) by TF, 11-3
1/2 Finals: Solslan DAUROV (BLR) df. No.9 Victor CIOBANU (MDA), 2-1
71kg – Greco-Roman
GOLD: No.1 Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) v. No.7 Balint KORPASI (HUN), 4-2
BRONZE: Svilen KOSTADINOV (BUL) df. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) by TF, 8-0
BRONZE: Frank STAEBLER (GER) df. Mindia TSULUKIDZE (GEO), 6-4
1/2 Finals: No.1 Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) df. Svilen KOSTADINOV (BUL) by TF, 10-0
1/2 Finals: No.7 Balint KORPASI (HUN) df. Mindia TSULUKIDZE (GEO), 7-3
80kg -- Greco-Roman
GOLD: No.2 Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) df. No.1 Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE), 2-0
BRONZE: No.9 Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. No.4 Selcuk CEBI (TUR), 3-2
BRONZE: No.18 Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) df. Oleksandr SHYSHMAN (UKR), 6-0
1/2 Finals: No.1 Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. No.4 Selcuk CEBI (TUR) by TF, 9-0
1/2 Finals: No.2 Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) df. No.18 Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) by TF, 12-4
98kg -- Greco-Roman
GOLD: No.14 Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Dimitriy TIMCHENKO (UKR), 6-0
BRONZE: Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) df. Timofej DEYNICHENKO (BLR), 2-0
BRONZE: Cenk ILDEM (TUR) df. Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE), 3-0
1/2 Finals: Dimitriy TIMCHENKO (UKR) df. No.19 Timofej DEYNICHENKO (BLR) via criteria, 5-5
1/2 Finals: No.14 Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. No.2 Cenk ILDEM (TUR), 6-2
